31. Inflow of foreign funds must also be overseen. One of the problems faced by unregulated investment in stock market is the massive and sudden dumping of shares when things look bad or are expected to become bad. The sudden outflow of funds will have a deleterious effect on a country’s economy.
32. Foreign holdings in any local company should be limited. This is especially so for banks and insurance companies.
33. Governments must be prepared to regulate free trade. Where necessary import duties and excise duties should be used to protect local industries.
34. Exchange rates need to be realistic. Free floats needs to be looked at with caution. Where possible fixed exchange rates may be adopted and currency trading be made illegal.
35. Whatever the policy adopted to cope with this worldwide economic crisis, reforms of governance must still be made to provide for efficient Government i.e. efficient bureaucracy. Efficient bureaucracy must mean minimal bureaucratic procedures.
36. Corruption is the bane of all countries. It cannot be totally eliminated. But it can be reduced if bureaucratic procedures are minimal and take the shortest time possible. Any delay must suggest corruption and investigations must be carried out.
37. Government requirements in order to gain approval of anything must be very clear and must be made known to the public. Where compliance is full there should be no delay in approvals.
38. Being business-friendly is necessary in order to maximise private sector contribution towards economic development. It is the duty of Governments to find out what complaints the private sector has and to remedy them.
39. Some of what has been mentioned regarding reforms of governance are not really reforms. And some of the others would be too late to prevent the effects of the financial crisis of America and Europe from hitting Asian countries. But they are necessary nevertheless. They may be able to reduce the impact and perhaps enable earlier recovery.
40. The countries of Asia will have very different problems depending on the stages of their development, their resources and how much they are hitched to the global financial systems. Those which have depended on foreign credit or have been involved in investments in foreign funds would suffer most.
41. On the other had those with large reserves in foreign currencies or have big savings may be able to reduce somewhat the impact of the crisis.
42. Whatever may be the impact of the financial crisis the judicious measures in the governance of the economy will still prove helpful. The important thing is to ignore old habits of imitating everything the rich western countries does. Asian countries must in fact initiate changes, including those to the monetary and financial systems.
43. Asians have always believed in the role of Government in regulating institutions. The world is about to view Asian practices and systems more positively. Asian countries must therefore make their voices heard. And this includes the small developing economies as well. It would be fatal for them if they allow, as in the past the rich and the powerful to devise the systems by which they must all function. In particular the banking system and practices need to be looked at from the Asian developing economies point of view and interest.
44. Governance is defined as the act, process or power of governing, As the situation surrounding government changes, there must also be changes to governance to cope with the new situation or surrounding.
45. What needs to be done may constitute reforms of governance.
46. But reforms are often constrained by the culture of the people involved. There is no doubt that Asians subscribe to different values even among themselves but more so between them and the Europeans.
47. In a Eurocentric world Asians tend to accept everything that came from the West i.e. from the Europeans as right and proper. It is difficult for Asians to reject what originates from the Europeans.
48. But that culture, that blind acceptance of the systems and ways of the Europeans must be modified, if not discarded.
49. What we are seeing today is the collapse of a very fundamental European institution, that of money and banking.
50. It is not enough to just tweak our present system of governance. It seems that we must be prepared for radical change. And Asian ideas must find a place in the development of these changes.
51. As the saying goes we have to go back to the drawing board. We have to question the system we have used for centuries. We have to consider redefining them, introduce new rules and regulations and provide for greater governance.
52. We may have to throw out the system altogether and devise a new one.
53. All these are not in our culture. But our culture must not stand in the way of necessary reforms, if it means saving our economies and our states.
The bankers are for the birds
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